Thirteen

If you like your techno-noir cyberpunk really dark and gritty then this is the book for you!

A really well-read entry in the SF Gateway the author explains in an introduction how he wanted to write something noirish but outside the constraints of his ‘altered carbon’ universe and he clearly had fun with the resulting freedom.

The story is complex, spanning Mars and Earth in multiple lovingly described locations with a complicated but comprehensible political milieu. Ostensibly about a genetically engineered ex-soldier teaming up with a couple of cops to track down a serial killer newly (and somewhat gruesomely) arrived from Mars this is really a mood piece. The plot is well constructed and does all make sense in context but that isn’t the main reason to read this - it is the total immersion in a richly drawn world that we are here for. Everything is convincingly and realistically described and the near future technology and politics all hangs together.

There’s lots of action, great dialogue and the plot moves along at a good pace so it makes for a really fun read.

Ultimately though the world that it draws is kinda bleak and not somewhere you would really like to live but it is great to read about!